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From our fabulous News Hawks!

Have you seen a TG-related news story online or in your local paper? Send it in to TGF and become a News Hawk! Don't assume we know everything that's out there, because you are our eyes and ears. To file a story, send it in to Cindy.

AEGIS and ITA to Merge,
Form New Nat'l Group

After six months of deliberation, the Boards of Directors of American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc. and It's Time, America! have agreed on a merger which will form a new organization, Gender Education and Advocacy (GEA). GEA will be, as its name implies, a transgender organization dedicated to both education and advocacy. GEA will continue the educational and political functions of its two parent organizations.

GEA will consist of a 501(c)(3) policy-making Institute and a 501(c)(4) Network of state chapters for policy implementation. The Institute and Network will be linked by Bylaws and a Joint Operating Agreement (JOA), which are under development.

GEA's Mission and Values statements and a list of Core Functions have been completed and approved.

GEA hopes to begin operations by the end of 1998.


Turkish TS Wedding Causes Stir

Contributed by Doreen and Elizabeth Parker

A transsexual singer, whose battle to switch genders helped legalize sex changes in Turkey in the 1980s, is creating a new media furor.

This time, it is over 48-year-old Bulent Ersoy's marriage to a 21-year-old man. And the latest controversy could make getting sex changes more difficult for others in this predominantly Muslim country.

Ersoy, who went to England for a sex change 14 years ago, has enjoyed as much popularity in her sleek, sparkling gowns as she did in the tuxedo she wore as a young man.

Before the latest uproar, she was affectionately referred to as "Abla" or big sister in a show of the support for her gender change.

But newspapers and television stations have attacked the morality of her April 4 wedding.

"By trying to show her marriage as something normal, she has trodden all over the concept of the sacred family," wrote Sabah newspaper under a banner headline calling Ersoy "shameless."

The public outrage about her wedding may boost support for legislation pending before Parliament that would make sex change operations harder to obtain in Turkey.

Under the proposal, a person would need to prove to a court that the surgery is indispensable to his or her well-being. An unauthorized sex change would bar the person from gaining a state identification card, and deny all legal rights. Debate on the legislation has not been scheduled yet.

During the military rule of the early '80s, Ersoy was barred from performing on stage because of his "effeminate" ways. He had to go to Britain for a sex change because they were illegal in Turkey then.

On her return she won a court battle that granted her official recognition as a woman, opening the way for thousands of transsexuals to follow suit. --via The Associated Press


Transvestite Dancer Norman Can only Whirl as Norma

Contributed by Rachelle Austin and Jodie Miller

LONDON - A Briton who used to attend line dancing classes twice a week -- once as a man and once as a woman -- was banned from twirling in his male version by an offended instructor.

Norman Horton, a 58-year-old former paratrooper and military policeman, enjoyed his Tuesday dancing class so much that he decided his transvestite alter ego Norma should also give it a go on Wednesdays.

When word of Horton's double life reached Frank Howell, his Tuesday instructor at the Darlington Arts Center in northeastEngland, told him not to return.

The Wednesday tutor, however, allowed Norma to continue a more promising dancing career with frilly blouses, short skirts and high heels.

``I've won two awards while dancing as Norma,'' Horton told Reuters. ``I don't know why I perform much better as a woman, maybe the boots I wear as Norman are too heavy.''

-via Reuters


Lavender Law Conference This Fall

Contributed by Melinda Whiteway

OCTOBER 15-17, 1998
PARK PLAZA HOTEL
BOSTON, MA
Spend three days with some of our community's brightest and most committed legal minds, who will be gathered to teach, learn, think and debate the full range of legal issues facing the GLBT community and GLBT lawyers. Following the opening Keynote Address by The Honorable Barney Frank, the lawyers, judges, professors, students and legal workers will enjoy a variety of panels and workshops in numerous areas of law and policy, including HIV/AIDS, family law, criminal law, estate planning, immigration and transgender issues, as well as areas of more general interest to GLBT lawyers.

For more information, check the NLGLA web site at www.nlgla.org or E-mail LAVLAW98@aol.com. Conference brochures will be available this spring, but save the dates now for the nation's foremost GLBT Legal Conference - Lavender Law '98!!



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